BCNR timeline after docket number received

Just an update. I filed on May 16, 2016. I received my advisory opinion Feb 17, 2018. I was only allowed 15 days from the day they wrote the letter to respond to the opinion. The advisory opinion was dated Feb 13, 2018. You will have a long wait if it is a medical issue you are looking to have corrected.
 
Mine was received by ABCMR on January 25, 2016. I received medical opinion on October 27, 2017 and submitted my comments on November 1, 2017. Four months of crickets since.
 
@ Kontum6870 So it took 21 months to get a medical advisory. May I ask if they agreed with what you where requesting?

@jeeperrs From your dates I believe you where at 21 months as well to get an advisory opinion as well. Correct me if I'm wrong but from your other posts I believe they didn't agree with what you where requesting?
 
You are correct. I had a negative advisory opinion. I have since contacted an attorney and will take it to federal court. They say the board can ignore the opinion. However, I doubt the ignore an opinion that saves them money. I will win, eventually.
 
NVLSP basically told me to wait for a advisory opinion before representing me.. So it seems statistically that at my 21 months mark I should be expecting an advisory opinion. What do you mean by "ignore an opinion that saves them money"? In Federal Court you can somehow get a substantial financial compensation?
 
The board can accept, partially accept, or go against an advisory opinion. They state those options in the letter they send to you with the advisory opinion. However, I doubt the go against an advisory opinion. They will owe me 15 years of retirement if I win. So, yes. There is a substantial financial compensation when I win. Granted the VA has gone back and awarded me as much as they can due to the issue. So, I won't get back the contributions from the VA. It is the fact of the matter at this point...and over $100,000.
 
My advisory opinion was extremely negative and concluded that the PEB was correct in lowering the rating given by both the physician that prepared the NARSUM and the MEB. I do have the regulations on my side and my NVLSP attorneys think my chances are excellent with the Federal court should the ABCMR deny my appeal.
 
My opinion said the VA cardiologist and chief of electrophysiology were "mistaken" and did not read the monitor correctly. They also say, all the records of other soldiers put in my file during the MEB were placed by the VA and it is "uncertain" when the documents were added. However, they are still in my records at St. Louis which means it was the MEB that placed them in my file. So, basically the Army had no defense except to say everyone one else is wrong and the Army is right. There are a million details that I will not get into, but the evidence is overwhelming in my favor. So, don't get your hopes up with the ABCMR. :)
 
Hello. Would anybody be willing to show their advisory opinion? It is interesting to see what they come up with, and can be helpful for other veterans in arguing their case. Thanks.
 
Hello. Would anybody be willing to show their advisory opinion? It is interesting to see what they come up with, and can be helpful for other veterans in arguing their case. Thanks.
I don't mind scanning mine but the issue is you won't know what points I raised in my initial file. Also, you won't know what points I raised in my rebuttal. So, it is a very limited point of view. Also, the advisory opinion I had reviewed my MED, my PDBR (a different issue is at hand in the BMCR but they still used the decision), and then reviewed my medical records. He literally wrote a couple paragraphs worth of information. Everything else was copied from records and pasted. So, I don't see how my advisory opinion will really help if you are looking for something besides a medical separation for retirement. Mine is not mental health.
 
Hello. Would anybody be willing to show their advisory opinion? It is interesting to see what they come up with, and can be helpful for other veterans in arguing their case. Thanks.
You can see the advisory opinions which are included in each decision. Check out the BCMR Reading Room http://boards.law.af.mil/AF_BCMR.htm you'll find a common theme that the advisory opinion is often to deny the request.
 
I agree that the advisory opinions from ARBR look to deny. My case has objective evidence such as labs not matching any past or current records, plus time and date errors on the actual lab and entries into my medical records do not match. I have surgeons that found the errors and brought them to my attention, and the chief of electrophysiology agreed and signed off on the errors. My advisory opinion specifically stated the new evidence and opinions of my surgeons and the chief of electrophysiology “are mistaken”. They did not address any of the errors in the labs and ignored all of the evidence. The advisory opinion also stated my concerns were addressed by the PDBR, which is not true. The PDBR was decided in July 2009, but the doctors did not document the errors in my records until December 2009. So, you can see how my opinion did everything possible to discredit medical opinions and evidence, and suggested a denial. Good luck!
 
I concur that advisory opinions are only used to deny appeals which appear to have merit. Although the claimant is given an opportunity to comment on the opinion, those comments, even if they contain specifics concerning laws in effect at the time of the PEB decision, are ignored.

My opinion of the ABCMR is far worse than it was when I submitted my initial application five years ago, which wasn’t that high.

It is my hope that the federal court system will provide justice, the ABCMR serves no purpose and should be abolished.
 
I concur that advisory opinions are only used to deny appeals which appear to have merit. Although the claimant is given an opportunity to comment on the opinion, those comments, even if they contain specifics concerning laws in effect at the time of the PEB decision, are ignored.

My opinion of the ABCMR is far worse than it was when I submitted my initial application five years ago, which wasn’t that high.

It is my hope that the federal court system will provide justice, the ABCMR serves no purpose and should be abolished.
Did you get an advisory opinion and a denial? Last update on your case was your still waiting.
 
Unfortunately, yes. In November I received an advisory opinion which was total bs. I had 14 days to respond. I responded in three days with 24 pages rebutting the opinion point by point and including regulations in force in 1971. I received the denial on April 7, 2018, 27 months after submission. The worst part was that the board denied my appeal on December 19, 2017. The denial letter is meter dated at AMCMR on April 3, 2018. It took them almost four months to mail the results. So, I had an extra four months of checking the mail and being disappointed. The people at ABCMR are sadistic bureaucrats who could care less about veterans. Did I mention incompetent?
 
That's sad, sorry to hear. This is all just a SH&# sandwich. I love to read people getting approved, but it just sucks when a veteran gets totally screwed and theres nothing you can do about it. So disheartening.
 
I think it would be fun to gather all advisory opinions so they can be presented to congress to show how messed up they are.
 
That sucks that happens. I hope you get a fair chance at Fed Court. So it seems that both Kontum6870 and Jeepers ya'll got your AO's around the 21/22 month mark? Then it took 4 months to get the denial?
 
I wish I had taken Jason’s advice and gone to the Federal court after initial denial. I wasted more than 2.5 years on the ABCMR appeal.

I believe the chances of success at the ABCMR on anything except actual paperwork correction or well documented missing awards is remote.
 
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